Mis-En-Scene Analysis of the Movie Great Expectations, 1998

Mis-en-scene Analysis of the movie Great Expectations, 1998.

 (From duration 1:14:53 to 1:20:53)

Submitted by- Soumya Mohapatra

Mphil English (2016-17)

Class Roll no- 16 ENG 127

Exam Roll no. - 15811V17010

Utkal University.

           Mis-en-scene, originating from a French word which roughly means “putting to a scene”, is a way of analysing, used to find out the meaning of a particular scene in a movie by referring to the setting, costumes, props, camera movement, the behaviour and acting of the actors and their appearance. This particular scene from “Great Expectations” is depicted an hour into the movie, a six minute scene from 1:14:53 to 1:20:53.

           It starts with a bang, the rags-to-riches hero Finnegan Bill (Finn) pushing open the car door from inside as if freeing himself from his past and moving into the spotlight. The scene is that of glamour. The music of a song playing in the background, – “here comes success, at my hill...here comes success” suggests that this point is the most awaited period in Finn’s life. Cameras flash at him and his name poster, suggesting his importance and he poses for a moment before climbing up the stairs into the gallery. His face contains the remarkable joy at finally achieving greatness as he climbs up the stairs and the climbing up here signifies his moving up in life. He meets the receptionist girl who takes his jacket and the first question he asks her is where Estella is? The girl replies that Estella hasn’t arrived yet and when she does she will send her right in. Estella is the heroine of the movie, the love of Finn’s life who he has just been accepted by in the previous scene and here, he is distracted by her absence. He meets a number of people who are eager to congratulate him. The spot light falls now on Ragno, Finn’s secret benefactor’s assistant who has helped Finn with this out of the blue journey to wealth and success. His remark,”...oh your dream coming true..?” is a remark more of confirmation that Ragno has kept his promise rather than the inquiring note of an ordinary acquaintance. His agent who has lent him the gallery for his first show, Erica Thrall, hurriedly comes into the scene and takes Finn away. Again the first thing Finn asks her is if Estella is present. She denies and continues to talk about the important people present in the gallery and a Mr. Carter that he should absolutely meet. On his way, he meets and shakes hand with some people, a number of people just stare at him talking about his work and guessing his origin perhaps, and the camera moves into the room showing that the art gallery is full of people sharing his success. He does meet with Mr. Carter Macleish and his companion Ruth, but even during the introduction and congratulations, he keeps on looking around the room for Estella, checking out the faces of those with the same colour hair as her. Erica and Finn to take a photo with Mr. Carter, but the little commotion outside makes him look at the door. He is taken aback by Joe’s appearance at the gallery. Joe, Finn’s brother-in-law, waves and shouts from behind the glassed windows, and it captures the attention of the people in the gallery (as it is not gentlemanly behaviour). When Joe enters, Finn hurries towards him, hugs him and asks what he is doing at the gallery and if he would like a juice. Here we can see that Finn is unnerved by Joe’s appearance and wants him gone with least possible interaction with others. Joe is wearing a fancy frilled shirt and rented tuxedo, his language is crude as ever and is in no way suitable for gentlemen conversations. Joe, on the other hand, who has come to surprise Finn on his lucky day, is more interested in the people in the hall. He meets and teases Ragno a bit and Finn starts to introduce him to Erica, Mr. Carter and Ruth. Finn makes an effort to keep things smooth but he is not very successful. Joe starts narrating the childhood events of Finn that made his ability to draw evident from his infancy. Joe is loud and descriptive which shows he is proud of Finn’s achievement but it seems Finn doesn’t feel the same kind of affection towards Joe. It threatens Finn’s past that Joe has come uninvited to his event, his day, and is taking away his spotlight by being the interesting one. And Finn’s disapproval is shared by Erica but Mr. Carter loves the chat. When Joe accidentally hits the waitress carrying the drinks and creates a mess of broken glasses and spilled drinks and stoops down to help the girl, Finn wants Joe to rise back up. Here we can find a clash of classes where the high class people should not bother with the messes made, as the servant are there to clear that and Finn doesn’t want to give away his poor origin and identity as Joe’s actions indirectly question his association with the low lives. Finn is already quite pissed by the childhood talks by Joe and he suddenly bursts, ordering Joe to stop. There is a moment of pin drop silence in the hall. Joe is hurt and after apologising to the group, leaves the room. Finn stands still for a moment as if deciding what to do and then runs after Joe.  The scene shifts from a public to a more private one, the merry atmosphere to a perhaps gloomy one. Joe is already departing and Finn stops him. There is the low key lighting here focused on Joe, and Finn is standing at the top of the stairs as if at a higher position. Joe comes close to Finn but stays at the bottom of the stairs. He is happy in his place and doesn’t want to move up the social ladder. Finn tries to explain that he is sorry for his sudden outburst but Joe is more than happy to agree and oblige by leaving. He is choking on his words as he says that he understands and he will meet Finn later and in the meanwhile he will have food at some nearby place. Finn does not invite Joe back to the party, and is silent. Two characters interrupt their conversation, a couple perhaps, who, before climbing up look at Joe and climb up only acknowledging Finn while going up. They bring back into the mind of the viewers that Finn is the important one in this scene and Joe is just a mere unwanted presence. Joe departs and before going, he tries to cheer Finn up by telling him to ask the people inside if they know how to smoke a swordfish. It is a joke that the two of them had shared during Finn’s childhood. Joe is engulfed by the darkness and Finn keeps on staring for a moment. What happens inside the hall after Joe’s departure is not shown as that is not important anymore. Then the scene moves to Finn drinking and his rambling in front of what he thinks is Estella’s house.